Moldovan citizens to be able to report materials presenting sexual abuse against children on website www.siguronline.md

Chisinau, 12 September /MOLDPRES/ - Citizens will be able to report materials presenting sexual abuse against children on the platform www.siguronline.md. The Interior Ministry (MAI) today launched a national mechanism of signaling and removing this type of content.    

At a news conference, Interior Minister Adrian Efros said that the mechanism would allow ceasing the circulation of sexual materials in the Internet and removing them. „The new mechanism will ease the quicker identification of the perpetrator and punishing him/her. We are set to create a safer online environment for children and to align with the international standards. The protection of children is extremely important and we will be able to fulfill this priority with the support of our partners – U.S. Embassy in Chisinau and the civil society,’’ Adrian Efros said.       

For his part, Ambassador of the United States to Moldova Kent Logsdon stressed that the new technologies had created additional risks against minors. ‘’This mechanism, financed by the USA, will enhance the country’s capacity of children’s protection. The platform will allow reporting the problematic online content, so that it is removed. We everybody want to create a safe future for the children,’’ Kent Logsdon said.      

The executive director of the La Strada Moldova International Centre, Elena Botezatu, said the platform www.siguronline.md had access to an international database. „The duration of the removal of the content is of about two days and a half. We urge all citizens to report cases in which they detect pictures with children in sexual hypostases. The process of signaling lasts just several minutes. Subsequently, the context with sexual character will be verified and removed,’’ Elena Botezatu said.  

According to the General Police Inspectorate, with La Strada’s support, 46 informative reports have been received with over 400 photo/video card indexes concerning cases of sexual abuse against children in the online environment since last May.